Ghost Of Rand

In 1962, Ayn Rand gave a talk entitled "How Not to Fight Against Socialized Medicine" to a group of doctors, dealing with a Kennedy administration bill that was the precursor to Medicare. As Rand put it,

The advocates of "Medicare" admit that their purpose is not help to the needy, the sick, or the aged. Their purpose is to spare people "the embarrassment" of a means test -- that is, to establish the principle and precedent that some people are entitled to the unrewarded services of others, not as charity, but as a right.

Can you placate, conciliate, temporize, or compromise with a principle of that kind?

In general, Rand's talk praised a small group of doctors (members of the audience she addressed) who took on Medicare at the time by pledging to treat aged indigents at no charge, while refusing anyone whose medical care was financed by the government. It served as a pep talk of sorts, although obviously the forces of socialism overcame the few sensible thinkers in the medical profession in short order.

Fast forward forty years, to this article in the New York Times:

For the first time, significant numbers of doctors are refusing to take new Medicare patients, saying the government now pays them too little to cover the costs of caring for the elderly.

Fascinating. Could it be that "heartless" Ayn Rand was right? And that it's taken forty years, but the markets have proven her so? That in itself it interesting, as it suggests that over time, markets will help judge misguided social policy.

While on the topic of Rand, I am reminded of a UK Laborite acqaintance of mine who is familiar enough with Rand to (mis)characterize Objectivism -- and also his recent praise of the movie Moulin Rouge. That makes Mr. Breese's connection here even more interesting to me personally, although it is interesting enough on its own.

[Posted at 23:05 CST on 03/20/02] [Link]